In the name of the aforesaid applicant, EP2197589-A1 discloses a container which houses a deformable bag, to which an airless manual pump is coupled for dispensing the fluid contained in the bag.
One problem experienced with these containers concerns the filling of the deformable bag which must be carried out before coupling the container to the pump.
For some fluid products, especially cosmetic or medical products, which must therefore be handled with considerable care, the filling step is critical since it must be carried out using appropriate systems within a controlled environment. In fact, most of these fluids must not come into contact with air or with contaminating environments.
To solve this problem, the filling step and the step consisting of coupling the pump to the filled bag are carried out almost simultaneously and within the same controlled atmosphere environment. In this way, it is certain that there is no contamination of the fluid introduced into the bag, since once the pump is coupled to the container, the system is sealed and hermetic and can no longer be contaminated.
The methodology described above is effective but involves high costs and flexibility problems deriving from the need to provide controlled environments in which two essentially independent steps take place, namely that consisting of filling the container and that consisting of closure (by means of the pump) of the filled container.
FR2730708-A1 and FR2695111-A1 show valve systems applicable to the bag, which are designed to seal off the container and the contents thereof immediately after the filling step, thereby allowing the pump to be coupled later on.
However, these solutions are not very effective as they do not always guarantee good sealing off of the contents of the bag. In fact, the closure of the bag after filling is performed by valves made of an elastic material (silicone, rubber, etc.) which do not guarantee a hermetic seal, especially if the filling pressure is not optimal (for example, when the bag is only partially filled, i.e. with an amount of fluid which is lower than the maximum capacity).
Another problem encountered with the prior art is that the traditional top-fill valves described in the aforesaid patent documents do not envisage the provision, prior to filling, of a container with a bag from which the air has been removed (i.e. vacuum-sealed). In fact, when coupled to a vacuum bag and placed in a room pressure environment, the commonly known valves would open, allowing the entry of (possibly contaminated) air into the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,479 A discloses a container, according to the prior art.